Credit: Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek

Sign in to your How-To Geek account

Summary

• Microsoft revealed Windows 11 26H1 (build 28000) for H1 2026 — a targeted platform update for “specific silicon”.
• This isn’t a return to twice-yearly features — 25H2 stays primary; 26H2 will be the next major release later in 2026.
• Likely aimed at next-gen Snapdragon/ARM; raises if it’s one-off or a step toward true ARM parity with macOS.

Ever since Windows 11 was launched, it has just done one annual major update, which is usually released by the tail end of the year. Next year, though, it looks like we’ll be getting an extra update, though only for some computers.

Microsoft has officially confirmed the development of Windows 11 version 26H1. This new build has made its first appearance in the Windows Insider Canary channel, distinguishing itself with a new build 28000 numbering scheme. You’d be forgiven for thinking this means that Windows 11 will switch to a twice-a-year release scheme, like it was back in the old Windows 10 days. The update, which is set to arrive in the first half of 2026, is actually not a broad feature release for the general public. Instead, Microsoft has clarified that it is a targeted platform update designed exclusively to support “specific silicon.”

This means, in theory, that we won’t be going back to the troubled releases in the Windows 10 era, such as the document-deleting October 2018 Update. The company reassured customers that “25H2 remains the primary place for new features” and that the established annual release cadence for major updates will continue. This also means that your next major update will be Windows 11 26H2, and it will be released later next year.

The “specific silicon” Microsoft alluded to is widely believed to be the next generation of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors. My problem with this, however, is that optimizations for chipsets don’t usually require a whole major update dedicated to them. Unless it’s too big of an update. Is Microsoft cooking up a fixed version of Windows on ARM that can actually rival macOS and its handling of x86 apps? I doubt so, but a man can dream.

This also raises more questions. Is this going to be a standard fixture on Windows 11 ARM PCs going forward, or is this just a one-off? By the sound of it, we won’t be magically getting 27H1 by the start of 2027, or at least that’s what Microsoft insists won’t be the case. We’ll have to wait and see.

Source: The Register